What is indoor cultivation?

Indoor cultivation is a method of growing plants in an enclosed environment where the conditions for plant development are artificially created to provide ideal growing conditions.

In indoor cultivation, the environment is controlled, and artificial lights are used to mimic the sun. There are also mechanisms to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment to keep it within the ideal range for the plants, and the grower can adjust these settings according to their needs and plant varieties.

Thus, indoor cultivation offers several benefits, as it tends to yield better results in a fully controlled, protected environment free from external interferences such as weather factors, sudden changes in temperature and humidity, insects, and wild animals, which can cause incalculable losses to crops.

Outdoor cultivation is a method of growing plants "out in the open" and depends on weather factors, seasons, rain, and other elements that affect plant development.

What is the difference between indoor and outdoor cultivation?

Indoor cultivation, as mentioned earlier, has a controlled environment where factors controlling the environment are artificially produced to mimic ideal conditions for plant development. However, this requires equipment to generate these conditions. As a result, indoor cultivation tends to be more costly than outdoor cultivation, but it also tends to yield better results and higher quality crops, as plants in indoor cultivation benefit from optimal conditions without external interference: purer air, better climate, and consistent lighting.

These are some of the factors that lead to better results for indoor cultivated plants. Generally, indoor harvests may have better aroma and final quality as the plants are not affected by rain and other obstacles that occur in outdoor cultivation.

Benefits of indoor cultivation

There are several unique benefits to indoor cultivation, including:

How to start indoor cultivation

Indoor cultivation allows you to have total control over your plants' environment and can be a rewarding hobby. However, getting started and choosing the right equipment can be a significant hurdle for novice growers and their dream gardens.

To start indoor cultivation on the right foot, it is necessary to understand some important points to ensure greater care and achieve good results later on.

As mentioned earlier, the health of your indoor plants largely depends on air quality. Here are some reasons why you should set up your grow room to ensure optimal air circulation and ventilation.

1. Maintain perfect carbon dioxide levels.

The correct circulation and ventilation system helps replenish carbon dioxide, ensuring fresh air (with high amounts of carbon dioxide) enters as used oxygen exits.

2. Maintains correct temperature and humidity levels.

Unlike outdoor plants with access to natural sunlight and regular winds, plants in a grow room are subject to stagnant light and air. Proper air circulation and ventilation expel excess heat and humidity from stagnant air. Your plants stay cool and absorb water efficiently.

3. Helps strengthen your plants' stems.

The closest you can get to the swaying effects of natural wind and the resulting plant strength is to set up excellent air circulation and ventilation systems. This facilitates upward growth, ensuring your plants can produce plenty of fruits or seeds in the future.

4. Protection against pests and diseases.

Plant diseases and pests thrive in areas with stagnant or humid air. For example, fungus gnats, mites, powdery mildew, and mold are common in cold or humid areas. The only way to make your grow room uninhabitable for these foreign elements is to keep it dry and airy.

5. Lighting

For proper plant growth in indoor cultivation, good lighting is essential. In an indoor environment, this is achieved artificially. Today, there are various lighting options for indoor cultivation, including HPS, HID, and LED. In another article, we explain why LED is superior for indoor cultivation. If you want to read the article, click here.

6. Adequate Space

To start indoor cultivation, it's necessary to choose a space that best suits your needs and optimizes climate changes within the environment so that plants have the best conditions for their development. You should choose a growing space that is suitable for setting up indoor cultivation and its equipment, has electricity, good sealing against the outside, good thermal protection depending on your region, and good reflectivity to further optimize artificial lighting.

For indoor cultivation, it is possible to grow in confined environments such as large commercial spaces, rooms, and in smaller spaces, grow tents. If you want to do indoor cultivation only for personal use, it is more recommended to use grow tents, as they are designed for the grower to have the greatest possible ease when cultivating, in addition to greater environmental control, practicality, and discretion.

The natural environment is designed to meet all the air requirements of outdoor plants. Indoor plants don't have that luxury – they have limited access to natural air and may struggle to build robust fiber tissues due to the absence of strong winds. That's why experts recommend that growers set up their grow spaces properly to ensure optimal air environment, circulation, and ventilation, replicating natural growing conditions as closely as possible.

Choosing your equipment

After discussing the importance of indoor cultivation conditions, let's briefly explain the necessary equipment and accessories to achieve good results in indoor cultivation and harvest high-quality fruits and flowers, leading to a prosperous grow.

At first glance, it seems like a long list of items, but a beginner grower can gradually invest in these items and evolve their cultivation as their plants and experience grow. For example, items 7 to 12 are optional; you can choose to include them or not initially, and it's entirely possible to complete a full cultivation cycle (from start to harvest) without using these items. However, for more demanding and advanced growers, they are recommended as they further optimize ideal cultivation conditions.

Now, let's briefly summarize each item to assist growers who are not yet familiar with these equipment pieces and their functions:

A grow tent is an important item for indoor cultivation and makes all the difference if you want to grow in an environment where other things are happening around. This is because the tent can somewhat isolate the indoor cultivation environment, isolate the light and climate inside, and prevent fewer debris from entering your grow. It also helps avoid leaks around it when the grower waters, for example, which is why there are numerous advantages to using a grow tent for indoor cultivation.

2. LED Grow Light

Lighting is fundamental for indoor cultivation; without sunlight, there is no life, and your plants won't develop. Thus, it is the most important piece of equipment for indoor cultivation. Choosing good lighting is also crucial as it directly impacts the production and final quality of the harvest. You should choose an LED from a reputable brand with good results and high quality, so you can use it for many years and achieve good harvests.

It is now known that LEDs are the best lighting for indoor cultivation because they are energy-efficient, generate little heat for confined spaces, and produce fantastic results for indoor growing. There are several brands on the market today, but MARS HYDRO and VIPARSPECTRA stand out and are considered the best LED brands in the world.

To choose an LED, you need to pay particular attention to the size of the space where you want to set up your grow. In the case of grow tents, you should buy an LED that matches the size of the tent you acquired, for example: for an 80x80x160cm tent, choose an LED that covers 80x80cm; for a 100x100x200cm tent, choose an LED that covers 100x100cm, and so on. For growing in rooms and commercial spaces, the logic is the same, but you should measure the useful growing area of that environment, not the total area, as you will need space to move around, manage your plants, and place other equipment to control the climate and other functions.

We have various LED models in our store, both for personal and commercial cultivation. Based on this explanation, check our website in the LED GROW section to find the model that best suits your needs. We have the best LEDs for your grow!

3. Exhaust Fan

The exhaust fan is a fundamental item in indoor cultivation because it handles most of the ventilation in your grow and filters the air, which is very important in a confined environment like indoor cultivation. The exhaust fan is necessary to move the air inside the grow and filter it. To use the exhaust fan correctly, it needs to be installed properly, and there are several ways to use it. We recommend using the exhaust fan together with a carbon filter, as this combination will filter the air and remove odors from the environment. There are a few ways to install this ventilation system; let's try to illustrate with some images here.

4.Carbon Filter

The carbon filter is also an essential item, as it filters the air, removing impurities and making it cleaner, as well as eliminating odors from your grow, which is crucial for growers who want a discreet setup. Carbon filters use activated carbon in small particles (0.4 to 0.8mm) inside to filter air molecules, removing impurities and, most importantly, the smell of the grow.

5. Thermo-hygrometer

 

The thermo-hygrometer is a very necessary piece of equipment for indoor growing. It is simply a meter that measures the temperature and humidity inside your grow, two fundamental metrics to monitor in indoor cultivation to have better control over the environment. With it, you can track the temperature and humidity inside your grow in real-time and make the necessary adjustments to achieve the ideal climate range using the equipment we mentioned in this article.

6. Fans

Fans within indoor cultivation are essential for maintaining a pleasant environment for plants. Adding fans to indoor cultivation provides several benefits for plants, such as: air circulation within the grow, air renewal for gas exchange, mimicking natural outdoor wind which forces plants to develop stronger stems and branches, strengthening the plant; in addition to removing stagnant air and humidity within your grow, making the environment more conducive to plant development.

7. Pots

 

Pots are an essential item; without them, indoor cultivation is not possible. Good pots are made of high-quality material and have handles for moving and handling your plants. When looking for pots, choose good quality ones, as fragile pots tend to break and are bad for root development. The best pots currently are felt pots, as they allow oxygen to enter through the sides, facilitating rooting, in addition to being of excellent quality and durability.

8. Humidifier

This equipment is very useful and recommended for growers who live in dry and arid regions with low relative humidity, to prevent plant stress. The humidifier's function is to increase humidity and bring it to the ideal range, thus creating ideal conditions for indoor cultivation. This applies not only to growers in dry regions but to all growers, as a dry environment can occur at certain times of the year. You can also use an automation system to automatically turn on the humidifier when the environment becomes dry; we will discuss this further in this article.

9. Dehumidifier

 

The dehumidifier is essential equipment for growers seeking greater excellence in their crops, as it greatly optimizes the growing climate, in addition to preventing major problems with high humidity, which primarily affect the flowering phase, and can lead to significant issues such as pest proliferation and mold on the flowers.

With this equipment, you can have greater control over your grow's humidity, especially if you live in humid and rainy regions or areas with significant climate variation. If you wish to grow in slightly smaller and confined environments such as grow rooms and tents, this equipment is highly recommended, because in the context of indoor growing, when watering pots and plants very intensely, this water tends to evaporate, drastically increasing humidity in the first hours and days, and especially at night when the lights are off. Therefore, the dehumidifier helps control this air humidity and is a useful and necessary piece of equipment for indoor cultivation.

10. Heater

A heater is essential equipment if cultivation is carried out in a cold region or one with large temperature drops and variations, as it maintains the temperature within an ideal range so that plants do not suffer and impede their development. With it, you can raise the temperature on cold days and avoid problems, especially with seeds and small plants that are sensitive to cold and can literally die on very cold days. A heater can prevent these problems.

12. Air conditioner

Just like a heater, an air conditioner helps maintain a mild and pleasant climate for plants, as on very hot days, high temperatures can harm plants and cause numerous problems. Generally, this is one of the most expensive pieces of equipment for cultivation and tends to be costly in terms of energy consumption. However, for more advanced growers, having such equipment in their grow can be a "game-changer," as many have functions not only to cool but also to heat and dehumidify the environment, which eliminates the need to buy other equipment, in addition to some having automatic functions and maintaining an ideal climate. Without a doubt, the air conditioner is one of the best pieces of equipment for indoor cultivation and should be considered by more advanced growers seeking excellence in their grows and should not be underestimated.

12. CO2 Generator

CO2 is necessary for plant photosynthesis, which in turn converts CO2 into oxygen. This process in indoor cultivation is important for the healthy development of plants. It is necessary for there to be air exchange in the grow so that the air is replaced and new air with available CO2 enters for the plants, and in confined environments, it is essential to take this into account.

Today, there are various models of CO2 generators, from heavy tanks to CO2 bags like Green Pads. These are more practical and easier to use, as tanks require a greater understanding of their control and use.

13. PH/EC Meter

Meters are useful for measuring solutions and checking if they are within the correct pH and EC range. With them, you can have greater and almost ideal control over these measurements, which directly affect plant response and yields. By measuring pH and EC with the meter, the grower can check if, for example, the pH is too high or too low and correct the pH using a pH UP or pH DOWN solution (solutions that lower and raise the pH) and adjust according to the plant's needs, the same applies to EC. Meters are very useful pieces of equipment but not mandatory, as today there are growing methods where pH measurement is not necessary, such as using the SENSI line fertilizer from Advanced Nutrients, which automatically regulates the pH of the solution to the ideal range depending on the plant's stage.

Automating the indoor grow environment

For your plants to always be healthy, beautiful, and voluminous, the indoor growing environment must be conducive for them to grow and develop so that at the end of the cultivation, you have prosperous harvests.

We know that it is often not easy to control the indoor growing environment, whether due to external or internal factors. One of the best and most efficient ways to control the indoor growing environment is to automate it so that the equipment controlling the internal climate works autonomously, thereby self-regulating the climate when necessary, ensuring the grow always remains within the ideal climate range for the plants at their life stages.

With this in mind, we've brought a series of automation equipment for indoor cultivation.

The iHub Mars Hydro power strip is a differentiated piece of equipment that serves to automate your indoor grow. With it, the grower can connect several pieces of equipment and automate them all at once using an app that connects via Wifi and Bluetooth and contains its own sensor that captures the humidity and temperature of the environment it is in.

App Control & Accessible Data: Use the Mars Hydro app to monitor climate data and power consumption while setting timers and receiving notifications, all remotely controllable via Wi-Fi. Growers can view data by hour, day, and month to understand fluctuations and make predictions in order to reduce guesswork and use data to fine-tune the growing environment.

Smart Climate Trigger Control: The iHub smart grow power strip is equipped with a sensor to detect the environment (temperature and humidity). Once you set your desired temperature and humidity requirements through the Mars Hydro app, you can count on your smart grow room to automatically control and maintain the ideal environment for a worry-free grow. Once your settings are activated, selected devices will automatically function.

We recommend this equipment for growers who seek to have the highest technology in their grows and automate the indoor growing environment to have greater ease and an ideal environment for plants to always stay healthy and produce prosperous harvests! We also have other automation equipment for indoor growing; I suggest checking our section on the Alpha Blunt website. To access, click here.

Check out our complete grow kits!

 

We have various complete grow kits in our store, with the best equipment on the market, of the highest quality for you to have abundant harvests. They already come with the necessary equipment for you to grow from start to finish and have a spectacular cultivation!

They already include lighting from Mars Hydro and Viparspectra, the best LED brands, tents from Garden High Pro, a renowned brand in the market, and all the brand's accessories such as carbon filters, exhaust fans, regular fans, and felt pots, currently the best for indoor growing.

To purchase your complete grow kit, click here.

Get your grow kit at ALPHA BLUNT now and achieve fantastic results in indoor cultivation!